Sunday, May 31, 2009

OK...OK...I know that y'all are sick of the "Ginger survives yet again" stories, but guess what? I've got another one! On Thursday night I picked up a bag of trash that was in our driveway. Since it was dark outside and we don't have a good light to entice me to take the trash all the way to the back, I decided to bring it in the house to throw away. I put it in a garbage bag and set it on the counter to take out in the morning. I never checked to see what was inside, it was a take-out kind of a bag. Well...early in the morning I found two dogs amidst a ripped open bag of garbage with all the signs of buffalo wings around them. It was buffalo wings in that blasted bag!! Two theories on how they got it off the counter-Ginger grew wings and flew or the dummy cats knocked it off! Kiwi and Ginger had eaten some leftover wings! Yuck! Kiwi is sticky and a little bloated, Ginger is super sticky and super bloated. Uh-oh... I read online about dogs vs. chicken bones and read that they stand a good chance of passing them, but to monitor them for 8-12 hours and check the poop for signs of bones. Kiwi pooped bones, but Ginger didn't. By 5pm she was in major distress and had a seizure so off to Dr. B's we go. He says he wants to try the "Metamucil trick" overnight and bring her back in the morning. (Listen up all you pet owners...this trick is way cool!) Mix about 1/3 cup Metamucil with about 3-4 tablespoons hot water to form a glob. Mix in some wet cat food and feed this to your pet. Make sure that you feed them about the same amount of mix that you would normally feed in food. Then you wait. The glob will work through the body picking up "debris" along the way and actually encapsulating it in the glob as it goes. It is kind of amazing when it comes out. I will not go into gory detail, but I was amazed. It worked like magic on Kiwi. On Ginger, it made her really uncomfortable, so I realized she must be blocked. Back to Dr. B in the morning. X-rays confirm that yep, she is blocked. See, she has this scar tissue in her stomach from an old surgery that caused a bit of blockage so the wings and now Metamucil globs couldn't make it out. Into surgery little Ginger goes. I get a call from Dr. B after it was done and not only does he say she is doing fine, but he is amazed at all the stuff he pulled from her stomach. So amazed, in fact, that he saved it for us in a Ziploc to check out when we picked her up! (Attention P365'ers-that bag was my POTD on Saturday!!) She is home now from her ordeal, but she is still having seizures. I had to tape a note to the closed vet's office for Jesse, the vet tech, to call me when he was checking on the "overnight" animals to see if he would refill her Valium to last the rest of the weekend. Other than seizures, she is doing well. Sadly, I cannot say the same for poor Kayla. She is super bored and wants to go swimming and I don't feel right about leaving Ginger alone just yet. Oh, well...I just finished Twilight, I think I'll go get Kayla to start reading it, maybe that'll help.

As Stacey said, "I guess 'Old Ironsides' made it through another one! So true!

Thursday, May 28, 2009

As the day draws nearer to when we are pulling up our Florida stakes and moving to Pennsylvania, I find myself wanting to take photos of things I will miss....my parking space in the garage at The Doodle, Pei Wei, the dog park, Val's Baskets, Piccadilly, Tropical Splash Smoothies, palm trees, our beaches, Country Club Automotive, Billy my nail tech, Starbucks/Dunkin' Donuts coffee drive thrus, etc... The other day I was standing out in our backyard while the dogs took care of their business I noticed something that I absolutely will NOT miss when we move-lizards!! I am so not a fan of these creepy little buggers. Every day as I stand in the yard they seem to taunt me just 'cause they know I don't care for them. They always stare me down and sometimes seem to rush at me, playing a kind of "chicken" game. They always win! In fact one time, one of them jumped on Ginger's back and as much as I love my girl, I turned tail and ran, shouting at Ginger, "You're on your own, girl!" So, in the idea of giving equal time to the things I will not miss when we move, I give you...the lizard!

You may be thinking, if you know me well at all, that I will just be trading lizards for bears. You may also know that my fear of bears is deep and pathological. Yep-bears would stare me down and would probably rush at me, not to play chicken but to eat me. But I promise you this, the day, the minute, the second that I see bears in PA as often as I see lizards in FL I will hop in my car, shouting back to the rest of the Peck clan, "You're on your own, y'all!" as I drive back to Florida!

I'm not sure if I've told you guys about the place where Charles is working, but since we are super close to moving up there I thought I'd share with you what I know about Woodhouse and the kinds of homes they build.

Charles has worked in both the residential and commercial fields and I have to admit that whenever he worked in the residential end, I never really liked the houses he designed. (Is that OK to say?) They were nice, expensive and big, but never really a house that was exactly my taste. That has all changed since Charles started working for Woodhouse up in Pennsylvania. When I first checked out their website I knew I would love the homes Charles would be working on. They are timber frame homes and full of charm and beauty. The homes are built on beautiful sites and have fantastic views. Timber frame homes differ from a log home mostly because they look like a traditional home from the outside, but on the inside they have this beautiful exposed timber-the houses' frame. You really have to see them to understand just how beautiful they are. Above is just one photo from the front porch of one of their homes. If you really want to see some spectacular photos follow this link to their gallery and just browse! And should you feel the need to inquire about building a Woodhouse timber frame home of your own, make sure you tell them that you read about it on Jen's blog! lol!!

Sunday, May 17, 2009

I love community theater. I love everything about it! I got to take Kayla to her first ever live theater experience last night and we both really liked the musical. It was called Bat Boy: The Musical and it was performed by the Carrollwood Players. I am lucky that the playhouse is just about 5 minutes from my house and I can pop in any 'ol time. I convinced Kayla to join me last night-which was no easy task to convince a 14 year old girl to come with me to see a musical about a bat boy. I did mention that it had a bit of rap music and it was essential a "horror" show. I left out phrases like "camp horror" and "Simpson-esque rap music", but heck...I got her there! The show was funny (very funny in fact!), a bit gruesome and well acted and sung. It had a hysterical cross-dresser and a spot where I had to cover up Kayla's eyes. The cost was just $18 a person and in this economy it is a bargain! Afterwards the actors all lined up for a meet-n-greet. I told them that it was K's first live show and they were excited for her! I think I hooked Kayla to theater, 'cause she kept saying that she wanted to see that one again and that they should make it into a movie! High praise from a teenager! It was closing night, so I cannot suggest that one, but go check out community theater in your neighborhood!

Saturday, May 16, 2009

Stacey, Henry, Kayla and I hit Oceanic, the Oriental grocery store in South Tampa. I needed rice to make these sushi-style rolls that Stacey made for our Mother's Day picnic that Kayla loved and are now going in her school lunches! This is my haul from our shopping excursion! Wassabi peas for Charles, strawbery/yogurt drinks for lunches, pickled ginger, geletin stlye snack "shots", boba drinks, kiwi gummies, chopsticks, Kewpie mayo, sushi vinegar, a bento box, tapiocoa straws and the rice!! We had such fun shopping up and down the exotic aisles of an Oriental market. Now I've gotta go boil me some rice...Japanaeese style!

Yesterday when I picked Kayla up in the early afternoon, she wanted to go to this "olden-time home" as she called it. She said it was pretty cool and we should check it out. Well, it turns out it is actually called Manatee Village Historical Park. This is a place in Bradenton that has brought in different old buildings to form a historical village. There is a house, a church, a smokehouse, boat builder, courthouse, etc. If you have not been I can highly recommend this for a very fun afternoon! It is free with "suggested donations" of $5 per person and you walk around with a self-guided tour map. There is an old general store and an old hotel with a museum inside. I had a blast!

Sitting in the out house. Whew! It was hot in there. I only wonder why they had two holes inside. Did people actually sit side by side and take care of business? Yikes!

This is the outside of the Stephens House. Notice the beautiful old, cracker tin roof? Love it!

This was just inside this house. The kitchen was located in the center of the house and there was and in/out porch that ran all around the house. Each of the bedrooms were located off this circular porch. There was a very small common room, but it appears that most of the "living" was done on that porch. SO, SO cool! Very clever!

The kitchen was the largest room in the house. It held the dining room and a food pantry that was the same size as the bedrooms. Plus there were built-in food storage spots. Funny was that you could see through the floor boards right to the ground under the house.

Kayla tried out the pump that was on the porch that overlooked the barn. There was a metal tub hung up outside that I told K was the bathtub and she looked at me like I was crazy!

A display inside the general store. They had some old Sears & Roebucks catalogs that we looked and found pantyhose for .17 and felt shoes for 1.97.

The sign from the old hotel.

They have weddings in the church, picnic tables set up outside and a very old cemetery just across the street that I want to check out next time. I hope Kayla will want to go again!

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Stacey and her boys joined me and my girls at Honeymoon Island for a relaxing Mother's Day afternoon. It was my first Mother's Day ever and it was fantastic. I started off sleeping in late, then spent some time in the kitchen getting ready for our beach picnic (don't laugh-I love being in the kitchen!) then Kayla and I went to the mall for some retail therapy. The beach was so much fun! Between Stacey and me we cooked a fantastic feast to nosh on. The kids all played either in the water or with kites. Nico lost Henry's kite when it blew away while he was trying to "kite fight" with his daddy. The dogs went and boy were they tuckered pups when we got back in the car. I love Honeymoon Island (the pet area), but that trek back through the dunes/Florida brush is just rough after a full day of beaching! It was a perfect way to spend Mother's Day!I sure hope everyone's day was as great as mine!

About Me

I am a 4th generation Floridian who's family's past revolves on or around the sea. My husband is the man who has been my best friend for more years than I can count. We are foster parents & have welcomed a few kids into our home. Our goal is to eventually adopt. We have some furry children-2 Chihuahuas & 2 cats. We have both been vegetarians for over 20 years. I feel most comfortable cooking in a kitchen & especially enjoy cooking for large groups. I love the sound of distant train whistles, a large diet coke from McDonalds, political humor & reality TV. I have a pathological fear of bears, though I’ve accepted them in my yard! I have acted on stage & love the moment backstage just before an entrance. My dad had a green thumb that I wish I had inherited, but sadly I kill most of my plats. I adore movie musicals & have too many favorites to count. The biggest fish I've landed was a 95 lb. yellow fin tuna. There have been many jobs in my lifetime but until moving to PA I worked in the scrapbooking industry since 1999. Now I am "Misses Jen" to a hoard of kids in the crazy-fun Toddler Room of at a Preschool. Travel is one of my favorite things to do & I want to see the whole world!